The Waldo Canyon wildfire blazes through tree tops west of Manitou Springs, Colo., Monday, June 25, 2012. The Waldo Canyon fire, one of at least a half-dozen wildfires in Colorado on Monday, has blackened 5.3 square miles and displaced about 6,000 people since it started Saturday, June 23, but no homes have been destroyed. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Brutal wildfires across the West have placed some tourist destinations from Montana to New Mexico in danger just at the height of midsummer family road-trip season, putting cherished Western landscapes at risk along with hordes of vacationers.

In Colorado, the $5 billion tourism industry is on edge as images of smoke-choked Pikes Peak and flaming vacation cabins near Rocky Mountain National Park threaten to scare away summer tourists.

In central Utah, a wildfire in an area dotted with vacation cabins was burning an estimated 58 square miles and threatening about 300 homes. Firefighters had that blaze at 10 percent containment Monday. The Sanpete County Sheriff's Office said as many as 30 structures may have been lost.

And in New Mexico, firefighters Monday were mopping up a small wildfire that threatened one of that state's top tourist attractions, El Santuario de Chimayo, a 19th century church north of Santa Fe. The church draws about 300,000 visitors a year and appeared to be out of danger Monday.

Firefighters hoped calmer conditions and additional firefighting air tankers would assist wildfires across the drought-stricken region.

With the nation's privately owned fleet of heavy air tankers already in use or unavailable, U.S. Forest Chief Tom Tidwell said his agency had to call on C-130 military tankers to help. The order came as new fires started in Colorado, Utah, Alaska and Arkansas. In all, more than 1.3 million acres across the United States have been charred this year.

Even as some evacuated residents were allowed to return home, tourists streamed out of some of Colorado's most popular summer sights.

"They don't want to come back where it is smoky and uncomfortable, so they move on," said Chris Champlin, operator of the Pikes Peak RV Park, which is usually packed ahead of the July 4 holiday.

The fire that emptied Champlin's RV park burned out of control at more than 5 square miles Monday, with smoke at times obscuring Pikes Peak.

In Manitou Springs, a tourist town at the base of Pikes Peak, the Blue Skies Inn was back open for business Monday, a day after guests were roused and told to evacuate. But manager Mike Dutcher worried that officials pleading for firefighting help could spook visitors.

"Tourism is a big business in Colorado, and if you hyperventilate when CNN shows up, it hurts a lot of people," Dutcher said.